Recollect
by WatchfulEyes
Summary: Rory loses her memory and begins a new life (that is until she remembers stuff again). She meets people from her past.
1. Starting New

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Recollect

A/N: So this fic is a bunch of my ideas rolled into one. It might not make sense right away, but that's how I intended it to be; this is going to be a fic with more than one chapter, of course. So hang in there with me.

Disclaimer: I own Liana.

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Chapter 1: Starting New

She looked between her dad and he other mysterious man. They were yelling; about what, she didn't know. She was standing too far away to even hear a murmur of what they were saying. The man was starting to get mad. He reached into his jacket, pulling something out. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Her dad turned to her, worry in his eyes. He was yelling something. She didn't quite catch it because all she saw was the gun. The man was yelling something, too. But all she heard was the gun being fired and before she knew it, she fell backward, hitting the ground as everything went black.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Nothing looked familiar; it all seemed to be a distant dream. Everything seemed to be fogged in, locked away somewhere, just like the doctor said it would be. Maybe it was stupid of her to try to do this, look around what was told to be her room, trying to recollect the memories that she had obviously lost. It was no use, though. Everything looked foreign, none of the items represented anything and no memories came rushing back. "Damn it," she silently cursed to herself.

"Hey, sweetie."

Rory turned around to se her dad standing in the door frame. "Hey," she sighed.

"Any luck?" he asked as he came to sit next to her on the bed.

"Nope. None whatsoever." She fell back against the bed and brought her arm up to cover her eyes.

He mimicked her. "Don't worry. With time, it'll all come back. That's what the doctor said."

"That's the thing," she started without looking at him, "I don't want the 'with time' part. I want to remember now," she pouted.

He slightly chuckled, pulling her into a light hug. "Sorry, but that's the way it is."

She groaned out loud. "I know."

"Now come on," he grabbed her hand and pulled her up, "you got to finish packing."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she mumbled under her breath as her dad left the room, shutting the door quietly. She looked around the room once more, trying to figure out why there were so many books.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

She forgot why her dad chose to move here - New York. Something about having a new start in some place new… She really didn't remember, but at least it was kind of true. She liked the fact that no one expected her to be the girl that she was before she had lost her memory. No trying to please everyone, no trying to remember all that they told her right away. It did feel a little wrong having to leave all of her friends and everyone she knew behind, but she had told herself that it was better this way. _Yes, definitely better._ She was still getting used to being called "Rory".

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Rory looked into her full-length mirror, smoothing out the invisible lines in her waitress uniform. She thought that she looked ridiculous, but all the other waitresses wore them, as well, the waiters wearing something similar of pants and a shirt, so she wouldn't feel too stupid. She gave one last look and walked out of her new room.

"Hey. Ready for your first day?" Chris asked, looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

She took in a deep breath and let it out. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"All right. Good luck!" he called as she walked out the door.

"Bye!" She began to walk the three blocks to her work, taking time to make each step; she didn't have to be in for another half an hour.

When she finally stepped in the door, she was greeted with the strangely familiar smells of a diner. She shook the feeling off as one of the other waitresses walked up to her.

"Hey. You the new girl?"

"Um…yeah."

"Great," she grabbed Rory's hand and dragged her behind the counter. "Here is your order pad, your pen, and your working apron." She turned around and started to walk away, only to turn back to Rory, adding as an afterthought, "I'm Liana, by the way."

Rory nodded her head and responded kindly, "Rory."

Liana gave a smile then winked. "Something tells me that you're going to like it here." She turned back around and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I hope I do," she whispered to herself, then plastered on her best smile when she saw a customer come in. "Here we go."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

He walked through the door of the diner he had come accustomed to coming to in the past year. Without even bothering to wait for someone to seat him, he walked towards the back of the diner, sitting in the seat he always had; he didn't even notice the girl that was following him.

"Excuse me?" he heard the feminine voice say.

He didn't even bother to look up. "I'll have some coffee and the special for today." With a wave of his hand, he pulled out the book he was carrying and started to read. She had a look of frustration on her face as she walked over to the counter put the order in.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"God!" Rory exclaimed when she reached the counter.

Liana looked up. "What?"

"That guy over there," she pointed to where he was, "he was completely rude and barely acknowledged me."

"Oh," Liana began to nod in understanding. "He's always like that. He's actually kind of sweet if you can get him to talk to you about something other than coffee or sandwiches."

Rory paused a moment, appearing to consider this. "Who is he?"

"He's-"

"Order's up!" the chef interrupted.

Rory gave a 'thanks' and grabbed the plate, heading over to the guy with a new determination.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

She stood a couple steps away from him, watching intently as he read line to line. When she finally approached him, she set the plate and cup down in front of him and waited for him to say something. When he didn't, she cleared her throat. Still no reaction. "Your food's ready," she lamely offered. He nodded without looking up. She waited for a couple more seconds then gave a sigh. She took a couple steps away and called to the back, "Liana, I need to get some fresh air!"

"Alright, Rory," she called back.

Only then did the guy look up at Rory's back, escaping through the door.

**__**

So what did you think? Please review and give me any ideas you may have or criticisms. Thank you!


	2. The Name that Made her Run Away

A/N: Thank you to all that reviewed. I guess I should have warned you from the beginning that this fic wasn't going to be the most interesting or clear or even good. Throughout the chapters - I'm not even sure of how many there will be - there will be flashbacks from her past that will make the plot more clear as you read. I know it'll be frustrating as you continue to read when you don't know something that you feel you should, and for that, I apologize. But I do hope that you will continue to read until, what I hope I can get to, the end. Thank you.

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Recollect

miarae - All will be revealed in upcoming chapters. I'm glad you like my start and I hope that you will continue to read.

Alexia Craven - It is one of the guys you thought, but don't worry, I'm going to work the other one in later.

Ramoning Away - I guess you'll have to read to find out who the guy is. Thank you for taking the time to read my fic.

julie - I don't blame you for being confused, but, if you take the time to keep on reading, which I hope you'll do, it'll all make sense.

Daisy Deertree - Sorry to disappoint you, but the guy is not Dean. In fact, he probably won't even show up in my fic, unless he is mentioned in a flashback or memory of the sorts.

Smile1, Poodernite, & Pearls24 - Thank you for your reviews! I hope you'll continue to read.

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Chapter 2: The Name that Made her Run Away

He stared mindlessly at the door, unable to form a coherent thought. He heard the other waitress say that name…_that_ name…and he saw her hair, her form. It couldn't be, though…she had disappeared a long time ago…

………………………………

Rory opened the door to the diner after coming back from her break, trying to not roll her eyes as she heard the bell above her ring. This had only been her first day and she was already sick of the sound. She sighed silently and stepped behind the counter, ready to orders, and saw that he hadn't left yet. This time, she did allow her eyes to roll, her shoulders slumping a little as she slowly made her way over to him. "Did you need anything else, sir?" His eyes rose to meet hers, but no words escaped his mouth. Rory stared at him oddly, waiting for an answer. "Sir…?" She crouched down a little to look into his eyes more better and only then did her presence seem to register in his mind.

"Rory…" came the breathless response.

Rory narrowed her eyes in confusion, wondering how he knew her name, but then remembered the nametag she was sporting just below her left shoulder. "Yes?"

He shook his head, as if trying to make her go away…or try to shake of the insanity that was overcoming him. "You can't be here…" he whispered before getting up and walking out of the diner.

Rory stared at the spot he had vacated, trying to understand what just happened. Her eyes suddenly shifted to the book that he left behind. She picked it up slowly then made her way over to the counter where Liana was.

"Something wrong, Rory?" Liana asked, raising an eyebrow at Rory's obvious state of surprise.

Rory stared at the book for a few more seconds before shifting her gaze up to her coworker. "He didn't pay…"

………………………………

She had been working there for a week now, her body already accustomed to all that needed to be done around the diner without having to think twice. Liana had told her a couple times that Rory was one of those people that were born to work and something in the back of her mind just clicked.

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"Come on, Rory! You've been doing homework for the past three hours! There has got to be some kind of law that prevents teenagers to work on book reports for any longer than ten minutes so that they can entertain their dear beloved and beautiful mothers."

Rory looked up from the piece of paper she was writing on with an exasperated expression on her face. "Mom, I told you that I need to get this done because-"

"Oh, right," she interrupted, "you want to finish so that you can spend more time with lover boy."

"Mom," she sighed, "would you quit calling him that? He's starting to feed off of that comment greatly every time you say it. I don't think you need to feed his ego."

"Alright, alright," she looked away and rolled her eyes, "I'll stop." She paused a minute to study her daughter hunched over the kitchen table. "Just come to Luke's_ when you're done, okay? Need to put some food in you or else I'm not going to be a very good mommy."_

Rory gave a small smile. "Okay."

"And if he-"

"Rory!"

Rory snapped out of her daze and looked up Liana. "Yeah?"

She gave Rory perplexed glance then nodded toward the door. "Customer."

Rory put on a smile, not noticeably fake anymore, and turned toward the door. "Hi. One?"

The person looked at her briefly then nodded. "Yeah."

She walked to a table, placing a menu on top of it, then walked away, intending on giving an appropriate amount of time for them to look through it.

"I already know what I want."

She turned around again, paused for a short moment, then walked back up to the table. "Okay. What'll it be?"  
He stayed silent then answered when she raised an eyebrow. "Same as last week."

She scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "What?-" Then she remembered. "Oh, yeah. You're the guy with the book who walked out without paying."

He smirked at that. She hadn't changed one bit. "I come here enough that everyone knows I'll pay everything I get off eventually."

"…alright. Your order will be out in a minute." She turned and began to walk away.

"Don't you want to know what my name is?" he called out to her.

She sighed and turned once more. "What is it?"

"Jess."

She felt her heart stop at that name, that one word. Her breath quickened, but she couldn't figure out why she was panicking all of a sudden.

"Hey!"

Rory spun around, seeing that she had backed up into a customer. "Sorry," she stuttered, looking around for the door, barely noticing all the eyes that were on her. When she finally spotted it, she ran, the door shutting heavily after she rushed through it.

Liana glared at Jess, not really sure what happened, but still mad at the result of it. She started to make her way to Jess when he stood up and hurried out the door.

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A/N: Yep…totally short and quite possibly crap. Next chapter: Jess and Rory's conversation and some more flashbacks. There you have it - you know who the guy is. Well, anyway, drop a line or two and tell me if I should continue.


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